Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Four players scored in double figures on Tuesday evening but the Shippensburg University men's basketball team was unable to finish off a late second-half rally to PSAC West opponent Mercyhurst, falling 76-65 in the first of two mid-week PSAC crossover games from Heiges Field House.

Freshman Joe Lococo had a game-high six assists and led the Raiders (2-6, 0-4 PSAC) with a career-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Sophomore Sam Pygatt scored a season-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Junior Dylan Edgar poured in 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and fell one rebound short of a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Reggie Charles scored 11 points with a 3-of-4 effort from three-point range.

Mercyhurst (6-3, 3-1) was led by the scoring combination of Luis Leao and Callon Dailey, who scored 20 and 18 points, respectively, and combined to shoot 14-of-22 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range.

The score remained close for the first 10 minutes of the first half, when a jumper from sophomore Akil Anderson gave the Raiders a one-point lead at 15-14. A 15-2 Mercyhurst run, however, put the Lakers up 29-17 with 4:49 left. A three-pointer from Callon Dailey extended the Mercyhurst lead to 40-20 before a Lococo jumper with 30 seconds on the clock put the score at 40-22 entering halftime.

The Lakers pushed their lead up to as many as 25 points midway through the second half before Shippensburg began to make a run. Down 67-44 with 5:24 left, the Raiders rattled off 10 consecutive points, finished off with back-to-back three-pointers from Lococo and Charles. After a Mercyhurst layup, Charles hit two more back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to nine with 1:42 on the clock.

Lococo drained another three with 47 seconds left and Anderson made a layup 19 seconds later to trim the SU deficit to just six, 71-65. The Lakers went 5-of-5 from the free-throw stripe there on out to cement the victory.

The Raiders return to action tomorrow evening with a 7:30 p.m. tip against Gannon.